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Biostatistician - Career Profile |
Career OverviewBiostatisticians collaborate with researchers to determine the significance of diseases to different communities. They design studies to predict the outcomes of diseases and they evaluate treatment, assessing the safety and effectiveness of medications that could be used.
The ultimate goal of biostatisticians is to increase the medical community’s understanding of disease as an environmental issue.
Biostatisticians work in a number of different environments, including for pharmacies, in government agencies, and in research facilities. They typically design experiments to obtain data about diseases and treatment plans, applying processes such as duration analysis, quality control, survival analysis, and repeated measures to validate data. They often review experiments with new drugs and provide statistical information about effectiveness.
Biostatisticians must be adept at reporting, researching, analyzing, and presenting technical information and they must have a secure knowledge of bioinformatics, statistical analysis, and SAS programming. They are also required to be able to work as a team, because the vast majority of their work cannot be done in isolation.
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Career RequirementsThe general requirement educational requirement of biostatisticians is a master’s degree in public health or a related field. Some biostatisticians do find work, having only a bachelor’s degree, but they invariably have considerable knowledge and experience of the health care system and medicine.
Most master’s degree programs aimed at biostatisticians include focus upon statistics, epidemiology, demography, and geographic information systems, in addition to courses in public health procedures and activities.
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Job OutlookThe need for biostatisticians is expected to increase as new diseases are identified. The need to research new diseases, the risks they pose and the effects that they have upon human beings and communities.
Biostatisticians with advanced degrees, including doctoral degrees, can certainly look forward to excellent career opportunities and stability in governmental, in industrial, and academic settings.
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Career TrackAlthough the vast majority of biostatisticians hold master’s degrees in public health and work in the public health sector, the qualifications held by biostatisticians afford a high degree of professional flexibility.
Biostatisticians have the knowledge, skills, and ability to work in a number of different fields, such as agricultural science, statistics, public health policy, and biology.
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CompensationAlthough annual salaries vary depending on where individuals work, the annual pay for a biostatistician is generally between $55,000 and $68,000 per year. Administrators, educators, researchers, and consultants in the field of blood bank technology earn and will continue to earn above these stated averages for blood bank technologists. Starting salaries in this field are generally between $40,000 and $48,000 annually.
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